Trip to the Beach for Cheap! Best Places to Hit on the Carolina Coast

Everyone deserves a vacation now and again. It should not be preserved for the rich and the richer. My family is certainly neither, but we find the funds to go to our favorite spot on the Carolina coast: Kure Beach.

Kure Beach is located next to Carolina Beach, near Wilmington. Most beaches you go to, you end up paying hundreds of dollars for a tiny hotel and then at least $25 dollars a day (into meters) parking close to the shore. At Kure Beach, there is still free parking. And they don't charge anything to walk the pier. (Fun idea: get some ice cream at the pier shop and walk down to where everyone is fishing--it is sure to entertain)

Kure Beach does offer lots of rental beach house and hotels within walking distance of the shore. However, if you are open to new, cheaper ideas, I suggest visiting the Carolina Beach Park. Only a short drive from Carolina and Kure Beach, the park has a marina with a boating launch and a big camping ground. Campsites cost only $15 a night and there is access to hot showers and water near by.

The way I see it, when you go to the beach, you are going to be spending the majority of the day in the sand and saltwater, not watching cable television in the air conditioning. So, if you willing to cook dinner over a fire by lantern light and fall asleep to the sound of tree frogs and crickets, camping is worth the money you'll save.

While in Kure Beach, you have to take a visit to Fort Fisher. A marked historical site from the Civil War, Fort Fisher is also a beautiful place to picnic with the family. Continuing down the road from Fort Fisher, you'll run into the North Carolina Aquarium. Home of the two-story tank and touch-tank for children, there are enough underwater creatures and exhibits to keep everyone happy.